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Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Vinyl's Radio new album is complete and I've got my hands on these hot little tracks for your pleasure. I'm testing the waters on a You Send It account, so these are only available for 7 days or 100 downloads, so grab'em while you can. (Update: I've corrected the link for Space Rock.)

I'm sorry I failed to post this yesterday, but U-T writer Rich Baiocco wrote an article about Republic of Letters, this week's Amplify San Diego/SignOnSanDiego Band of The Week:

Despite not having released an official album yet, Republic Of Letters hasmanaged to stir up local buzz on the strength of a 2005 3-song demo, alreadyplaying San Diego hotspots like The Casbah and the Ken Club, and nabbing air onboth 91X and 94.9. Founded by brothers Chris (guitar/lead vocals) and Nick Venti(drums) with friend Martin Niwinski (bass), ROL's sound is a clash of freneticindie rock with the more atmospheric and melodic sounds of "No Code"-era PearlJam. While Eddie Vedder goes for the baritone howl, Chris Venti's voice is moreof a gentle, high-pitched tone and helps keep the band's sound distinct.

With the addition of second guitarist Adrian Thorstensen last spring,Republic recorded its debut EP at the end of 2006 and prepares for its releasethis March. Promising local sets and a stop in Austin during SXSW should buildon the band's fan base and garner more shows.

I am a total phony. I really don't know anything about music. On the other hand, one of my best friends, Kristian, knows everything about everything. Over the years he's turned me on to some really good stuff far in advance of any huge commercial success of bands. It's because of him that I am really looking forward to the Peter, Bjorn and John release. It is also his fault that everytime you see me out on a cold night, I'm sporting a Wisconsin hoodie as that was his graduation I went to a few years back in Madison, Wisconsin.

He is also the person that called in a favor and made sure that I didn't pay for a drink the entire night at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego pre-opening.

I respect his opinion of music immensely, so when he sends me an e-mail like this, I listen.

I have 2 friends that are in a DJ group called Flosstradamus, they’re fromChicago and they fucking rule. They’re playing at the Beauty Bar tomorrow nightin SD and you should post something about them. I just saw them last night andthey killed it…again. Great dance music, perfectly normal to hear Daft Punk intoMichael Jackson into Phil Collins into Rapture into Sigur Ros. Don’t sleep onit. Here’s their myspace.

Looks like I have new plans for after TNT. And in appreciation of being put on the guestlist:

The Bloody Hollies' "C'est La Vie, Ma Cherie" from their new album Who to Love, Who to Trust, Who To Kill was just played on Indie 103.1 on Jonesy's Jukebox, hosted by original Sex Pistol himself, Steve Jones. Steve said the band is "very grim" and went on to say that they are "very much a 'kill-yourself' sort of a band." I listen to Jonesy a lot and that is high praise from the man.

This is a statement from Vinyl Radio in the form of a MySpace bulletin after I alerted them that today's CityBeat cited Morgan as the permanent drummer:

Despite what you may read in the pages ofCitybeat this week Morgan Young is not going to be our fulltime drummer. He hasbeen filling in for us while we searched for our guy and may I add he has done aremarkable job and we are forever indebted to him. However, he is the drummerfor Silverbird and will not be the full time drummer for Vinyl Radio. Thatdistinction goes to Nelson Cooper. We met Nelson outside the library downtownwhere he was sleeping on a bed of old newspapers and grocery bags. We broughthim home and cleaned him up real nice and taught him how to play the drums. Ihope this clears up any confusion.

Here's an article that kinda covers the multiple homes of Augustana. I don't know how much I trust the writer considering Josiah isn't even in the band anymore, but there is definitely a San Diego connection, and Jared is always out supporting the scene when he's not on tour which is more than I can say for a lot of bands. Their buddies Emery Byrd are playing the Beauty Bar this Friday and they are good. Consider checking it out.

No recap for last night, just some good wine and cheese at Wine Steals then some $1 tostadas for Tostada Tuesday at Baja Betty's. If you are poor, $1 tostadas are the way to go. Yum.*****Today's CityBeat "Local's Only" erroneously reports that Morgan Young is the permanent drummer for Vinyl Radio. Confirmed with Andrew, and as I mentioned last week, the new drummer's name is Nelson Cooper, however he had not had enough rehearsals with the band to make their performance on Saturday night when they played with the Bloody Hollies. *****I always love everything that the label Barsuk puts out. Death Cab's original label, Nada Surf, Rocky Votolato (playing at the Casbah on April 15). Now you can stream all of Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter's album "Like Love Lust & The Open Halls of The Soul" here.*****TV On The Radio is playing the Belly Up in March. Silly yous who didn't get your tickets. I hear there might be some available to 94/9 insiders as the show is supposed to be part of the About the Music series. There is always a person selling future tickets during shows just inside the club by the Belly Up merch table. Take a look at their online schedule and don't miss your chance to see some good shows for cheap. I'll be buying my Albert Hammond, Jr. ticket on Saturday night when I go catch The Cat Empire. I recommend you do the same.*****New Amsterdams fan? They have announced tourdates and will be at the Epicentre on February 27th. Not into the all ages thing? Then catch them when they come back to the Casbah on May 29 with the Lashes. Also just announced, Apples in Stereo will be at the Casbah March 20. Their new album "New Magnetic Wonder" will be released next week.*****Fans of Bloc Party can head down to Urban Outfitters on Friday for an all day listening party, as they will be looping the new album in full all day. *****

I'm listening to the Piers Faccini CD that was given to me for helping sell merch and I'm not going to go into a full review, but if you took the first Duncan Sheik album and added a dash of Aqualung (opening for Pete Yorn next month), you'd have Piers Faccini. What's your rainy day soundtrack?I found a CD mix from a few years ago, specifically burned for rainy days:1. Out To Get You- James2. Got Carried Away- Trash Can Sinatras3. The Rain Will Come- Rocky Votolato4. Avalanche- Ryan Adams5. From Nothing-Rich Price6. You Made Me Feel- Trash Can Sinatras7. Reason Why- Rachael Yamagata8. I Remember- Damien Rice9. A Movie Script Ending- Death Cab For Cutie10. MIxtapes/Cellmates- Rocky Votolato11. Wonderwall- Ryan Adams12. Everyday is Like Sunday- The Smiths13. Run- Snow Patrol14. I know it's over- The Smiths15. The New Year- Death Cab For Cutie16. Wish you were here- Ryan AdamsAt the time my only access to a CD burner was at my old job which should explain the lack of variety but it still does the trick for me. What are your songs? albums?

First, let me start by saying there will not be a review of Ricksha as I walked into the Casbah during their last song. See, I would’ve been there on time, but it was raining so when I took city streets from Kensington to Middletown, I was making good time, but made the mistake of turning left from Washington to Hancock and a taxi basically forced me onto the freeway and the next exit isn’t until Front. Lame. I love driving in the rain.

Second band up was Waxy. I’ve been thinking hard about what I wanted to say about them because I liked their performance, I thought they were good, but they reminded me of a band I loved in high school that is so uncool that the band would twist my compliments as an insult, so I’ll skip the comparison and say that I liked their show. And they had lamps onstage. Every band should have lamps onstage. The drummer had a huge bass drum which was cool as they had projection lights onto it. Maybe this stuff isn’t important to you, but to me so many rock bands are just rock bands and really do a whole lotta nothing for me unless there is something to appreciate. I also appreciated that the singer/guitarist played guitar solos but they weren’t just gratuitous and actually fit with the songs, showing his skill without showing off. I got the feeling that this was a more mellow performance than usual which they did intentionally because the crowd was so sparse. Yeah, it rained in San Diego, so everyone was bunkered at home for fear of flooding or melting or something. He also commented that everyone there “must be in one of the other bands or unemployed.” No, actually some of us were there for a show of bands we haven’t otherwise seen and still had to get our asses up at the crack of dawn for work today.

Plans for the night switched and Hostile Combover was moved from playing in the Atari Lounge up to the main stage after Bob Wayne, so it seemed everyone in the Casbah had some part in changing over the stage to make sure there was time for everyone to play. Some dude from OB started talking to me telling me I was about to be blown away by the next band up. When he asked who I was there to see (Hostile Combover) I told him, and he was sure that after the show I would be so won over by the band. He told me that the band isn’t on a label, they record, produce, and sell all their records themselves and they’re only available at shows, and that the band is closely tied to Hank Williams III who has played on Bob’s albums and shared the same backing band. I prefer not knowing all of this before a band plays, but I tried not to let it influence my ear too much. Not too long later, Bob Wayne and The Outlaw Carnies took the stage.

I’ll just say that I’m neither a fan nor am I against Bob Wayne and the Outlaw Carnies. I loved his “carnies”, a guy who switched between mandolin and guitar and the other one who played stand up bass. Bob Wayne himself reminded me of Harley from Deadbolt with a dash of Elvis, though apparently Bob is a year my junior. The band are very much in the vein of Hank III, loving Johnny Cash, singing about the Devil being after them, and pretty standard themes of barfights, drunks, and even recovery. I know a lot of people like this music. For me, after a while, I’m not so much buying the act. I started thinking of Steve Poltz playing back in the day when he’d drink and go into his Dick’s Automotive type stuff and could pull off ad-libbing songs that sounded no more or less authentic than Bob Wayne, and when Steve did it everyone accepted that it was jokingly. And if I wanna listen to the country hillbilly rock, I’d rather take it even one more step and listen to Murder By Death who at least add something to a repetitive genre. Add to it that Bob Wayne was so kind to dedicate a song to the ladies in the house. I don’t remember the lyrics exactly but it was something to the effect of “when I come home, don’t start your bitchin, do us a favor and go back to the kitchen…you’re lucky I even came home at all”. Maybe I need to lighten up. Maybe he should save that song for when there’s more than 3 chicks in the room. I’ll leave this and say again, I don’t love or hate Bob Wayne, I think he’s playing a niche genre that high-fiving dudes from OB love and I think for his genre, he’s pretty average.

The night closed out with Hostile Combover. Aside from Ricksha, it was the night for three piece bands. I have been meaning to see Hostile Combover for some time now. When Ben is working I would be watching someone super mellow like Damien Jurado or Jose Gonzalez, asking him about his shows and his eyes kinda looking at me like I was insane. “We’re really loud,” he would say, in a way to not insult my preferences of the softer side of music. So I was prepared for loud. I had my earplugs all set. But seriously, I had no idea they would blow me away like they did. So maybe the vocals were kinda drowned out. Just watching Ben on drums was enough to absorb. He looked like Animal from the Muppets times 1000. I heard comparisons to Helmet and Quicksand and I’ll go right along with both. We noticed that the crowd dropped significantly and while they played a good set, I was at home by 1 so I was fine. Today I’m a little sluggish, but nothing an afternoon coffee can’t fix.

*****The Police have officially been locked in to open the Grammy's. woo.hoo.

The Police, who leapt from the British punk scene to become one of the world’s biggest rock acts before breaking up in 1984, will reunite for a performance to kick off the 49th Grammy Awards on Feb. 11.

Being the green music fan that I am, can someone explain to me why I should care about this? I realize I don't know my music history, but I've never heard a Police song I liked and Sting was mocked by everyone who was ever a Police fan. Someone please explain. And stop your hissing at me. I can hear you. Let me remind you that I was 7 when they broke up.

*****Davita of Buzzkill Romantics has returned from touring extensively with The Church. She was guitar tech, but was also given the opportunity to play a couple songs per night, and also teched for Rob Dickinson of the Catherine Wheel. All this created a side project called Marty Wilson-Pipers Electric Mood Maidens. There is also conversation of possibly playing lead guitar with a new band with Rob Dickinson. Everything is a wait-and-see, but she said the Buzzkills will always exist and put out new material. At the moment they have about half an album and are working to get the rest completed. They will be playing on February 25 at the FREE Casbah show with Vinyl Radio, The Shambles, and Anna Troy to celebrate the release of Staring At The Sun Volume 6.

*****Vinyl Radio has posted a new song from their forthcoming release. You can hear it on their myspace page. Vinyl Radio on MySpace

*****

Cold War Kids are up for "Artist of The Year" for Spin Magazine. You can vote and see other nominees here.

*****Blogger is still not working so let's see how my html skills are looking today when I hit publish...

The Colour are set to play a CD Release party at the Beauty Bar San Diego next Wednesday night, February 7, 2007. The actual disc hits the shelves on the 6th, but you can stream the entire album on the e-card here. Love them or hate them, they are being promoted right along with pals Cold War Kids and Delta Spirit and they have already getting lots of airplay on Indie 103.1.

I guess I was lucky enough to have checked MySpace on Sunday evening and got the post from Tim Pyles that the show at the Casbah would start at regular show times (doors at 8:30, bands around 9:20-ish) instead of his usual free Sunday with free food and doors at 7. I thought this would give me time and motivation to check out the Gypsy band at Dizzy's but I just couldn't muster the energy.Instead, I did still head to the Casbah. Everyone must've had a crazy weekend like me because even on a free night, there were not a lot of people there. The first band was the Lanterns. They had a good sound and I'd like to see them do a show with Fifty on Their Heels and get some younger people into the music scene...we're all old and aging out and the younger kids just don't seem to be replenishing our stock. The singer kept pointing out that they were too young to be in the bar. He said they had merch but if you wanted any, you'd have to buy it outside. Their American Apparel tees were only $10 and I would've bought one if I'd taken cash out. I mean, how was I supposed to know I spent all my cash on Sat night? He also said, "when I grow up, I wanna come to a show at the Casbah," and pointing out the thin crowd, "wow, this is really nice tile". Endearing. After their last song they thrashed around the stage, rolling on the floor but not enough to damage any equipment. Smart kids.Trentalange played in the Atari Lounge. Jason commented that they are the loudest band to ever play back there. I don't know if that is true but it certainly was close. Trentalange is Barbera Trentalange out of Seatlle and Rodney Elliott, the beloved sound technician who works at San Diego Sports Club and Beauty Bar and also does band management. He's one of the nicest guys in the local music scene, so you should show your support when the band plays on Wednesday night at Sports club.I had heard Trentalange on the radio as I was evpecting really quiet stuff. In reality, I was reminded of seeing Imogen Heap of Frou Frou at the House of Blues. Barbera is behind a keyboard, with a sound board on her side, an iBook next to that, with a wireless computer keyboard on top of her keyboard. Behind them was a screen with projected images, cartoons, and footage they've taken from the road. I really liked them and would've liked them more if I didn't have a screaming headache. They played two sets between the other bands. She has really cute shirts for sale, so bring your cash on Wednesday.I gave up on pics because they were just coming out so awful with no lights on in the Atari Lounge.Next up was Jezebel. The singer kinda resembles David Boey to me, but their sound reminded me a lot of the Michael Hutchence CD that was released posthumously. They were rock with a heavy dose of dark and brooding and I liked it. I can't believe I've known Mike the bassist for so long and this was my first time seeing them play. I am a bad friend. To all you people who said you were coming but didn't, you missed out because 94/9 had a raffle and Tim was being generous and hooked me up with the new Clap Your Hands Say Yeah CD called "Some Loud Thunder". Anna Troy was present with Bart Mendoza and slipped me her solo CD called "Ain't No Man" which is also on my listening agenda today. She will be playing with The Shambles, Buzzkill Romantics, and Vinyl Radio at the next free Casbah Sunday on February 25. If you know any place willing to donate food, let Tim know because us poor people count on the free grub on the Local Pyle Presents evenings.Action Andy and His Haunted Honky Tonkers played last. I actually really like honky tonk and if I wasn't ready to pass out I might've made Tim swing dance with me, but I just couldn't make it and left after three songs. Tonight is Anti-Monday League at the Casbah and I will be there. I will FINALLY get to see Hostile Combover, with Ben Johnson on the skins. He is one of my favorite Casbah bartenders and it's lame of me that I've never caught him in a live show, so count me in for tonight. The other bands are Bob Wayne and the Outlaw Carnies, Waxy and Ricksha. Be there. It's only $5 and what else could you possibly have going on tonight?

Of course, on the day I saw a bunch of incredible bands my borrowed camera ran out of memory, so it was back to the QVC crap one my dad bought. Still, here are some pics and set lists from the evening.Vinyl Radio:Vinyl Radio's Set List:The Powerchords:Great haircut!Orion Frequency:Orion Frequency Set List:Orion Frequency after party:

"Local" boy Jason Mraz has written a song called "The Beauty In Ugly" for the ABC show Ugly Betty and their "Be Ugly '07" campaign. You can listen to it here.******Local band Two Word Name played in Los Angeles on Thursday night. You might remember me posting their sale of tickets for the party bus for $35 to head to LA. In talking with some people this weekend, the trip worked out well for the band who had over 100 people show up to see them...but not without incident. The band was not on the bus which bummed some people out and there were allegedly underage kids on the bus partaking in the alcohol festivities. The bus got lost and had to call the band for directions and then the band was threatened by the club because there is a city ordinance that party busses and bus tours are not allowed on the Sunset Strip. Still, the band made a good showing and had a blast at their show. Also allegedly, the bus trip home had some wild stuff. I will neither confirm nor deny that I heard stories of 16 year old girls making out with 28 year old guys. *****Congratulations to Greg Laswell are in order. His cover of the Cindy Lauper song "Girls Wanna Have Fun" is number 1 on iTunes folk charts for 10 days running. Nice. Mock Mtv all you want but if you get song placement on one of their shows it can really only be good. I mean unless you're too cool and don't really want to make money playing music.*****A friend of mine went to the Fono/Swandive show at the Beauty Bar on Saturday Night. I like both bands myself, and I don't know if this comment reflected the bands or the bar, but he said, "The Beauty Bar is Dead". I've been interested in seeing the evolution as night after promoted night have left to other bars, i.e. Poprocks turning into the Anti Monday League at the Casbah and Pussy Galore moving to San Diego Sports Club. We shall see.

Sunday, January 28, 2007

What a weekend, and it’s not even over. I haven’t blogged all weekend because I’ve been out doing and that really is the meat of this blog, isn’t it?

After my half day of work on Friday, I headed to Chula Vista to hang out with the kids at my mom’s daycare. I know it sounds weird, but hanging out with 3 and 4 year olds is kinda therapeutic for me, so it was cool. Did you know that gas in Chula Vista is significantly cheaper than everywhere else? I paid $2.25 a gallon while the Arco is Kensington is still sitting at $2.59. Ridiculous.

Anyhow, Friday night started out as a bust. Andrea and I headed up to the Che Café to see Old Man Hands and Kite Flying Society. We arrived a little before 9 and Gabriel told up he was playing at 9:30 (despite his e-mail that they would start promptly at 9). We opted to stick around instead of going to Porter’s for a drink. 9:30 rolls around and OMH didn’t start. Instead it was a guy on guitar and the drummer for OMH calling themselves Swambujo or something. He played crappy protest songs (Fallujah, it’s a bloodbath, we’re only there for oil, etc.) and Andrea and I grew irritated really fast. After 6 or 7 of his shit songs we just decided to bail because we didn’t wanna miss Republic of Letters at the Ken Club. We had also found out that The Vision of a Dying World would be playing before KFS, and a whole night at the Ché was not in the cards for us.

Back in Kensington, we had a beer at my house then walked to the bar. We saw a couple songs from Silver Sunshine. The singer looks like Alex, the singer of Roman Spring. They played a style of classic rock with soaring guitar solos and long jams between vocals. I didn’t really see enough to make a judgment either way but I probably wouldn’t go out of my way to see them again as I like my rock with a little less cock.

Republic of Letters played a really short set because apparently Chris’ voice was thrashed. If it was, I didn’t notice. They’ve been recording a lot so and they're expected to drop the EP in March. I’ll stick with my assessment that Republic of Letters sounds a lot like early U2 with a dash of Blacksmith Union, who were one of my favorite local bands back in the day. Some people love them, some don’t. I side with the band and think they are really talented and every time I hear Saving Grace I can't get it out of my head. You can hear it, too, on the their Myspace page.

I didn’t really get a chance to see A Scribe Amidst the Lions, but I did capture some pics, so I’ll post those tomorrow with all the rest of the shots I’ve taken this weekend.

A friend of mine crashed at my house and we were up till 4 or so, so when Saturday rolled around I slept way in. I missed the war protest but did arrive to see Rob Crow at M-Theory for the instore performance. He had a bassist, guitarist and keyboardist/computer operator with him. I haven’t heard but one track from his solo CD, but the songs aren’t a major deviation from Pinback songs. A lot of the songs were short and rolled right into another leaving the crowd confused about when to clap. Rob said they’d only practiced the material 4 times, so they had to keep reminding each other how the songs started which was kinda cute. There were a lot of people with kids there, which was cool to see. Later, we dubbed them “Indie Breeders” in jest.

Troy Johnson was there, and I finally met Ryan Orion, so after the set of about 12 songs (some guy snagged the set list as I was heading for it), we decided to get lunch at El Zarape. Adam Gimbel had been at the in-store and invited us to the Rookie Card acoustic set at the Hole later that night. After lunch we decided to grab a drink (or three) over at Lancer’s and talked music, blogs, etc. Sitting between Troy and Ryan, I started feeling like a music numbnut and feeling like I really have no business blogging about music. The two of them know a whole lot of shit about a whole lot of shit. Still, it was fun and after a few rounds we decided it was time to catch Rookie Card.

Apparently The Hole was/is a gay bar, but it is a really cool spot that would be a fun spot for shows. There’s an outdoor patio and a stage, and their beer is really cheap. Rookie Card was playing to warm the crowd for a play. Adam is not only a great songwriter, but he has the best stories and between song banter. Theatre people are so enthusiastic, too, and had no qualms about going right into a clap along during the first song. Make sure you check out the Music Trivia Night that Adam is hosting at the San Diego Sports Club next Friday.

When Adam & Dylan finished, we decided to skip the play. Ryan had to get his gear for his gig at the Zombie, and Troy and I were headed to the Casbah. I raced home, let my dog out, took a shower and got ready and was back out in about a half hour. No three hours to get ready for this lady…

I picked up Troy and we arrived at the Casbah with time to spare before Vinyl radio started. The bar was pretty empty but by the time VR took the stage, a good amount of people showed up. Because their new drummer hasn’t had the chance to rehearse much, Morgan Young played drums for them. We all know I love Vinyl Radio and as far as I’m concerned, they’re better every time I see them.

Ari Shine played in the Atari Lounge but I missed him as I ran around the bar chatting with friends and whatnot. I will point out that he was selling American Apparel shirts with his 6 song ep for the bargain price of $10 for both. Bands, take note. Cheap merch sells! Andrea and Kara both bought from him. Unforch those babydoll tees won’t cover my ginormous chest or I might’ve made the purchase, too.

When the Powerchords started I looked at the stage and was confused, because I didn’t recognize the band onstage. Upon closer inspection, I realized it was the ‘Chords, but the singer has chopped off his long locks and man, what a difference a haircut can make. Mike of Jezebel and I were joking that you shouldn’t wear a t-shirt of the band you are emulating, but then I thought that the drummer wearing the Buzzcocks t-shirt is a smart move because it’s kinda giving credit where credit is due.

I said my goodbyes to everyone at the Casbah and headed out to the Zombie Lounge and arrived while Orion Frequency was setting up. I have missed the opportunity to see them in the past. I finally met Riyadh, the manager of bill, and Dave who is in bill. Riyadh and Ryan are roommates so it all came together why Orion Frequency and bill have played together in the past when their music is so vastly different. I tried buying earplugs at the Casbah because Ryan warned me that they are loud, but the machine was empty, so I was hoping my ears wouldn’t be destroyed. Ryan hooked me up with some rad earplugs, so I was stoked that I wouldn’t have to listen from the bar as is sometimes the case at the Zombie.

I can’t even begin to say how impressed I was with their set. They’re a three piece and Rip and Ryan alternate on vocals. They play rock with a dash of punk and they were fun to watch because they were having so much fun onstage. The guys from Two Word Name were there as was Catdirt. The mic seemed to jump away from Ryan at times, but other than that there were no technical glitches, and while it’s true they are loud, it wasn’t overwhelming and the vocals were clear and audible. I’m only against loud when vocals are drowned out, like when the Sess play and it’s a full on aural assault.

After the set a bunch of people headed over to the drummers house where we had a beer and laughed as he passed out in front of his tv and was chided for playing Coldplay from his iPod. Rhiannon, his girlfriend, got him into bed and Rip and I left to my house for some 4 am beers and talking. Sorry, I know you wanna hear about makeout sessions but there was none. He grew up in Chicago and is full of great stories, but as 6 am rolled around it was finally time to call it a night. Finally.

For those counting, that was 1 record store, 4 shows, 4 bars, and 5 bands in one day. Fucking rock n roll. Pictures will come soon.

Guess what I won't be watching on Sunday, February 11th: The Grammy's have announced their performers. Scheduled to perform are Christina Aguilera, Beyoncé, Mary J. Blige, the Dixie Chicks, Gnarls Barkley, John Legend, Ludacris, John Mayer, he Red Hot Chili Peppers, Corrine Bailey Rae, Justin Timberlake and Carrie Underwood.*****Welcome to America, Becks, now here's your reality show. Rumor has it (and People reports) that Fox has already approached David Beckham and Posh to do a reality series. Sounds terrible but I would totally watch. *****Sorry for my lack of recaps this week, but this weekend will be dubbed the weekend I had to be two places at once. Tonight I'll be at the Ché for Old Man Hands and part of the Kite Flying Society set, then racing back to the Ken Club to try to catch Republic of Letters and A Scribe Amidst the Lions. Saturday I'll be protesting the war (briefly) and then maybe racing up to M-Theory to catch Rob Crow. Later that night calls for Vinyl Radio and the Powerchords at the Casbah then racing up to the Zombie Lounge to finally see my boy Ryan Orion and Orion Frequency. Sunday doesn't ease up as I try to catch some gypsy tunes at Dizzy's before heading over to the Casbah for the free show with Action Andy, Jezebel, et al. Luckily that is an early show and I should be home at a reasonable hour to rest up for another case of the Mondays.no excuses to stay home, yet again.

******Lastly, if you didn't see my MySpace bulletin, I have submitted myself into a makeover competition:San Diego CityBeat is holding it's first annual Makeover Competition. I have submitted myself and won't be offended if you agree and submit me, too. My boss will be especially happy because as she always says, I should "dress for the job I want, not the job I have."Email caitlinr@sdcitybeat.com and tell her you agree that Rosemary B. needs a makeover.

I try to keep this site focused on the music, but I'm not absent a political bent, and since I've taken my other blog offline (Sex. Politics. Rock n Roll.), so I just thought I would post that there is a protest planned Saturday in Downtown:

End the War on Iraq! Bring the Troops Home Now!Demonstration at Horton Plaza 4th and Broadway, Downtown San Diego

Saturday, January 27, 2007 at 2pm

The US occupation of Iraq is the greatest source of violence in Iraq today. Onlythe immediate and complete withdrawal of US and other occupation troops willclear the path for Iraqis to determine their own future and relieve thesuffering of the Iraqi people. We need to bring our sons and daughters home now.Join with Pentagon Papers' Daniel Ellsberg (www.ellsberg.net), the San DiegoCoalition for Peace and Justice, and other endorsers, at Horton Plaza (4th andBroadway, downtown San Diego) at 2pm on Saturday, January 27th in coordinationwith demonstrations in Washington DC, San Francisco, and elsewhere in the US.Bring your signs, flags, and banners. Make and distribute your own leaflets andflyers. Bring your friends, your co-workers, and your fellow students. Circulatethis call as widely as possible.

Endorsed by: San Diego Coalition for Peace and Justice, International SocialistOrganization, Green Party of San Diego, Activist San Diego

Thursday, January 25, 2007

Last night, Thrasher had an ASR party at the Ken Club. In high school my boyfriend was sponsored by a skate company, which, back then, seemed like a huge deal. Last night, the skaters and their groupies made it obvious that it still is a big deal. I got to the Ken Club at 9:30 and it was packed. Both sides. On a Wednesday night. Thrasher was premiering their new skate video. I snapped a couple pictures of the crowd watching the film on a large projection screen in the band room until Brett told me that it was going to show again, so I found a perch in the bar and waited for the second viewing. I felt like I was in a flashback timewarp...all my guy friends in high school were skaters and skaters all pretty much dress exactly the same, both then and now. Only I realized that I was a "used-to-be" and I suddenly felt really old. I caught myself, instead of just saying "excuse me" as I was passing through the bar, I was saying "excuse me, Dude," like these were my bros or somthing. I am so lame.Anyway, the video was put into the DVD player and it is really cool. It was their King Of The Road 2006 video. Four teams compete on a national road trip/scavenger hunt and earn points. The winning team wins $20k and invaluable street cred. The teams are made to do lots of skate related things, like railslides in the rain, biggest gap ollies, jumping particular landmarks in the cities toured, etc., but they are also made to do other things...beer funnels, taking pictures of certain things, and the funniest, making out with women over 40. Team Zero won the competition for the third year in a row and the video of this dude making out with nine older ladies is hilarious. Especially because a couple of them look over 60. The crowd thinned out as the word spread that Chad Muska was spinning at the Beauty Bar and my Ken Club was back to normal for a Wednesday night. I was gonna post the pictures but I'm sure you all know what a crowded bar full of looks like...

I have been blogging since April 25, 2003 (on a blog that is offline now) and in that time I had developed a small group of "blog friends"; people whose blogs I'd read regularly that I've never met in real life. Some of them quit blogging but there are a couple that I still read. One of those is by Sarah, who in the time I've "known" her, has moved from San Francisco to Cape Cod (where she was from) to New York and now back to Boston. In the past, she has posted about an event called Cringe that happens in New York, where adults read from their adolescent journals and diaries (before blogs existed). I loved the idea and even proposed to my friend Jason that he somehow incorporate it into his "Perfectly Charming Evenings" that he promoted on Sundays at the San Diego Sports Club. He didn't bite, but I'm glad someone did. By the way, I think Cringe started the idea, but I could be wrong, it just happens to be the first place I'd ever heard of it.The Whistle Stop presents Debaser, San Diego's equivalent of Cringe. That old blog I was talking about probably has plenty of Debaser material, which is pretty sad since I wrote it as an adult, but that only means the old journals are even better. So get out and find your journals, old letters, etc. and take yourself right back the 12 year old insecure geek we all were. If I can track the link, there was one Cringe participant who had audio files of his very passionate letter to Aaron Spelling trying to convince him that the only way for 90210 to survive would be to have Brandon Walsh die. (Because then all the characters would have to come together without him, duh!)

Bet you didn't know it was Moustache Month: There's a group of guys (and the occasional hairy lipped female) who participate/created Moustache Month...You know them if you see them. It's the dudes from Vena Cava, Dan Padilla, The BatCave, et al. and every year they compete to see who can grow the most awesome 'stache. Anyway, the finals are this Friday at the Tower Bar. There's a ton of fun stuff this weekend, but if your sights are set on PBR tall boys, head over and visit Mick at the Tower and have some circa 1974 fun.Here's their message:the vegas semi-finals have been tallied and now its time for the big enchilada! bring your mustache to TOWER BAR friday the 26 and see if the 'juggernaut" can keep his title. special guest appearances by HAIRLIP (all girl review), MICROPHONE MIKE, UNDERGROUND RAILROAD TO CANDYLAND (f.y.p./toys that kill). and the best band in san diego right now, ROLLIE FINGERS!******Everyone loves Rob Crow. Well, not everyone. He and his new album are front page at Insound (next to The Shins), he's number #38 on their chart right now, and you can see him FREE! at M-Theory on Saturday @ 3pm.******FM 94/9 has released the details of their Insider DJ program. In a nutshell, during the day they will call a name every hour. If you call back within 30 minutes, you get $100 and you choose three songs for them to play. The next hour, they will call another name, but if that person doesn't call, back in, the last person who did call would get another $100 and three more songs, meaning you could score some cash because my guess is there few people who are that glued to the radio all day. The program starts in Feb. ******Tonight's Visual Underground at the Whistle Stop will feature "Before the Music Dies".According to M-Theory: BEFORE THE MUSIC DIES tells the story of American music at this precarious moment. Filmmakers Andrew Shapter and Joel Rasmussen traveled the country, hoping to understand why mainstream music seems so packaged and repetitive, and whether corporations really had the power to silence musical innovation. The answers they found on this journey–ultimately, the promise that the future holds–are what makes BEFORE THE MUSIC DIES both riveting and exhilarating.The film will be followed by a performance by Transfer*****In TV news...Hey Greg, They're just not into you. Greg Behrendt, author of "He's just not that into you" and host of The Greg Behrendt Show, got the axe from Sony. I can't even believe I bought that trash book. Also cancelled, Moustache at Large...I mean, Geraldo at Large. Such a shame. (mwahaha)*******In other TV news, is the Grey's Anatomy/Isaiah Washington thing just out of control or what? “With the support of my family and friends, I have begun counseling," Washington said in a prepared statement. “I regard this as a necessary step toward understanding why I did what I did and making sure it never happens again. I appreciate the fact that I have been given this opportunity and I remain committed to transforming my negative actions into positive results, personally and professionally.”

Really? Counseling? I'm usually way on the left side of the spectrum when it comes to defending people but now hasn't GLAAD gone too far? People say mean things and hurt each others feelings all the time. Grown-ups say they're sorry and move on. All of this bigotry and hate and anger is around and Mel Gibson, Michael Richards, Isaiah Washington are all really stupid because they got caught. People say bad shit all the time...sometimes with bad intentions, sometimes because the word has lost its meaning and is just slang. I got called out because I was using the word "retard" in the context of saying "I'm so freakin retarded". Because sometimes I am. Get over it.

***** It's awards season. Make sure you head over and vote for the Plug Awards at plugawards.com and vote for your favorite indie bands, blogs, labels, and more. Sorry to say San Diego isn't represented but it's fun to vote anyway. Unlike the Grammy's when you see the nominee list and say WTF???

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

I couldn't decide what I wanted to do tonight and the KLSD party was whack (sorry, KLSD, I still love you even though you're owned by the corporate devils at Clearchannel) and then I just saw this from the Ken Club:

The guys at Thrasher skateboard magazine are showing the premier of a newmovie tonight . dj's and a movie.

*****My sitemeter says I have not had a single hit on my blog today, which I know for a fact is not true, but if you come by today, please leave a comment so I know you're reading. I won't publish if you don't want me to. Just say hi...

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

*****Grab this week's Reader. Page 98 features Scott Pactor of CatDirtSez talking about music, the local scene, radio, and music in general and give a shout out to me, ChickRawker, and BlogSanDiego as the best local music blogs. And you'll never believe it, but Fifty on Their Heels isn't even mentioned once. *****CityBeat and the Reader listings missed it, and only the Casbah in the Reader shows it, but Vinyl Radio is definitely playing on Saturday for the Bloody Hollies CD Release show, along with The PowerChords and Ari Shine. In other Vinyl Radio news, the search for a drummer has ended as they have recruited Nelson Cooper on the kit. The band is stoked and feels like he's a solid match.*****CityBeat's "local only" has the follow up to the car crashing into the Zombie Lounge last Thursday.Here's the blurb:

Head Zombie dodges death

“We were doing a lot of the work on the place—moving out a bunch of walls,putting in a new floor. Me and the guy who was painting went out to lunch, andthat’s when it happened,” said “Denver” Joe Hicks, owner of the Zombie Lounge in City Heights, about the Infinity luxury car that slammed through the wall onJan. 19. “We were painting right where she came through. One of us would’ve been nailed. There’s another one of my lives gone, dammit. I’m runnin’ out.”

The luxury-car missile crisis happened at about 4 p.m. “We went to Lowe’s, boardedit up, and we were open that night,” Hicks said, noting that the crash alsoinspired the landlord to give the go-ahead on major renovations to the ZombieLounge. “So it may be a blessing in disguise.”

Nobody was hurt. I've seen two near misses directly across the street from The Ken, then there was the Jewel Box, and now the Zombie. Watch out Casbah, you're on a dangerous corner...*****Local photographer Christopher Wilson will once again shooting the art for an upcoming Band Of Horses release.

*****91X has hired a new PD. He will start next Monday. You can read about it on Chickrawker's site here. *****Battle of the Bands: Are they worth it??Last week CatDirt had a lot to say about Battle of the Bands competitions, and while I agree, I still chose to publish the listings for the Emergenza festival at Dreamstreet because two bands I support played: Two Word Name and Hostile Combover. Two Word Name won their night and will continue on at the next round at Brick By Brick. I asked Hostile Combover how they did and this was the response:

it was lame. a total pyramid scam. boo-hoo.

xxoo,ho-co

Let their lesson be your lesson and don't let your local band get sucked into these competitions.*****I had jury duty all day so while I catch up with the news, I thought I would mention that I've volunteered myself to be a field rep/street teamer for Filter Magazine...so keep an eye out for me distributing flyers and schwag all for free mags, music, and tickets. And expect to see me using this little blog here for promotional purposes as well. I don't mind whoring myself out for the music, Man.

Sorry, these are a little late but I thought I'd post them anyway.This one is from the Colour, written on the back of a 94/9 drawing registration slip:

This one is Piers Faccini's. This dude standing next to me in the front saw that I wanted it and grabbed it for me after Pier's set down his guitar and said "Thank you" to the crowd, only to come back with another guitar for one more song. He had to check a set list on the side of the stage. Cringe. I felt like an asshole.

I used to LOVE going to ASR. Back in the day, you could make up a business card and you were in. Then they started requiring a business license and card, and it got a little tougher, but you could maneuver. I haven't even tried to get in since high school, but man, those were the days. I had a friend who worked in the Gaslamp when all the businesses were thrift stores and produce distributors and he would get me a resident/employee wristband for Street Scene even though I was under 21, my other friends would take over the hostel that was on the corner of 6th and Island?, and I would hop back and forth between Street Scene, and the fall ASR. The winter one wasn't as cool but still fun and packed with goodness. I loved the celebrity spotting, too...Michael Stipe, Ice T, Tupac. Anyway, ASR is back this week and everyone knows that means lots of parties and ASR specific events. I'd love to let you know about all of them, but I'm so far out of the loop it's ridiculous. Still I'll list what I can...Wednesday Night: ASR Pre-party with DJ Sets by Chad Muska @ Beauty Bar $5 (with hosted drinks with Seagrams Vodka or Fernet Branca Wine)Friday Night:

I had an awesome night last night. I started my evening by filing my taxes which made about 700 pounds come off my shoulders. I heated up some leftovers and headed up to Solana Beach. My first stop was Surf n Saddle. I'm not a fan of North County (I was raised south of the 54, before the 54 existed), but I LOVE Surf N Saddle. Crystal is the bartender there and she hooks up a fat pour, is queen of mojitos, and is just genuinely cool (like saying she's met me a "million" times when I've only been there thrice). I got myself well lubed and headed to the Belly Up in time to catch the last song of The Colour, a bluesy rock band from LA. I know they will be here again, so I wasn't crushed about missing them. I believe Gabe Vega had them play a night at the Beauty Bar before, so I'll catch them on the next go-round. I got their setlist but left it at home, so here are some pics for now:

The second act was Piers Faccini. When Andrea and I discussed the show and meeting up, she said she didn't care about the openers but that I would like Piers Faccini. In listening to his MySpace songs, I was under the impression that he would rock about as much as Jose Gonzalez, but I was mistaken. Yeah, he's probably more of a solo performer than anything, but his closing Hallelujah's hit an almost yodel and I thought his voice was amazing. It helps that he was hot. That always helps. Some awesome guy up front with me grabbed me Piers' setlist, too, but that's at home with the one from the Colour, so more pics for you...

Finally it was time for Cold War Kids. As I've mentioned, this was my fourth time seeing them, so I didn't feel the need to elbow anyone in the face to get to the front.

I think I enjoy them on a stage lower to the ground because they rock so hard you feel like you're a part of them at times, joining in the percussive fun, but we'll have to save that for the February show at the Casbah...I really am torn about going to CWK instead of Gomez, but CWK just does it for me. I was actually listening to the CD yesterday and thinking that I wouldn't like it nearly as much had I not seen them live first, and also if I didn't have the 2 eps that essentially became Robbers & Cowards.

That is the end of my decent photography (thanks to Sara for letting me borrow the camera). Here are a couple reject-o-pics, when the vodka kicked in and those damn Cold War Kids wouldn't stand still for one second.

Believe me, those are the best of the worst. CWK didn't have a set list or I would've been all over it.

Just double checking, but I've mentioned I'm a dork, right? OK, then, I may proceed. After the show, people were trying to snag the silkscreened posters that the Cold War Kids were selling for $15. There was a dude at the merch table, but he wasn't paying attention and was only selling the shit from the Colour or something. So being the dork/champ/socially just person that I am, I jumped behind the merch table and started selling the posters. I think I sold 4 or 5 of them. The dude took all the cash and it turned out it was the CWK drummer, so I'm not sure why he wasn't paying more attention, but he hooked me up with a poster and The Colour's CD for my efforts. Seriously people, if you need merch sold, I am your girl. Ask Angelina from Persephone's Bees, whose merch I sold when I was supposed to be registering voters...And Cold War Kids...make some t-shirts! Holy shit. You are missing out on some SERIOUS cash flow. At least 30 people asked for shirts last night within a matter of 10 minutes. C'mon people, get it together!

Alright, kids, the day has finally come...Wincing The Night Away is finally (officially) released. I also filed my taxes and woo-hoo, hopefully am a small step closer to a new computer so I can go blog-psycho and drive everyone crazy with manic posting from the comfort of my king bed. Let's start with newsy stuff...*****New Releases Today:The Shins- Wincing The Night AwayRob Crow- Living Well (doing an in-store at Lou's today at 6pm)Deerhoof- Found OpportunityThe Good, The Bad and The Queen -self titledVietnam- VietNam*****In MySpace News:

Social-networking site MySpace has filed a lawsuit against an alleged major spammer who has been targeted by Microsoft and others in the past. According to MySpace, Colorado resident Scott Richter sent out millions of "bulletins" to MySpace members, violating state and federal antispam laws, including the Can-Spam Act. Richter gained access to user accounts through several phishing schemes, MySpace claims, and churned out messages that advertised products such as shirts and ringtones.

The amount of monetary damages that MySpace is seeking hasnot yet been disclosed, but Richter apparently is already in the red afterlosing a high-profile legal row with Microsoft. In that 2003 wrangle, thealleged spammer was ordered to pay $7 million after he refused to settle thedispute for a significantly lower amount.

I hope they hang that bastard by the balls. I can get over the spam and faux bulletins, but when my less discerning little brothers don't know any better, they are in jeopardy and I don't like it one bit.

*****

Fact or Fiction?- I heard a cab crashed into Tobacco Rhoda's last night. That would make this the third bar in recent history...first the Jewel Box, then Zombie Lounge (thought I never confirmed that one), and now Tobacco Rhoda's. Hold your drinks a little tighter, people, because you never know...

Tonight is the State Of The Union address. I'll save you the trouble of having to watch. My prediction of tonight's speech: "America is the greatest nation in the world, blah blah, the terrorists don't like us, blah blah, fight them there or we fight them here, blah blah, soldiers are not dying in vein, blah blah, fighting for our freedom and the liberation of the Iraqi people, blah blah, naysayers want you to believe we can't win, blah blah, but America is strong and we will endure, blah blah." Or something like that. This is the one night I will say thank god for American Idol. And dinner with my brother (who happens to be in the military).

Monday, January 22, 2007

I'm plotting out the week early so all those people invading our town for ASR can plan their week/weekend...Personally I'm torn between the Ken Club and The Ché for Friday night, and Saturday between the Casbah, The Alibi, and the Beauty Bar.

Monday, January 22, 2007:

Cold War Kids, Piers Faccini, The Colour @ Belly Up (Sold Out)

Tim Pyles Anti-Monday League @ Casbah, Featuring Bumbklaat, The Long And Short Of It, Batwings, Trophy Wife $5

Lady Dottie and The Diamonds @ Tower Bar

The Shins Listening Party @ Whistle Stop and Buy the album at Midnight @ M-Theory

The battle continues. This time, San Diego Serenade chimes in. I was at the Two Gallants show in which CWK made everyone's jaw drop. I was at their subsequent shows at The Casbah and the HOB sidestage. I will be at the show tonight, and I will be at the Casbah show next month. Whether in favor or not, I fucking love their 2 ep's and also the full length release. Period.